Of Skyfall and Bond @ 50

When I went to see Quantum of Solace
  in 2008

Anyone who has followed my blog for a while will know that I am a life-long Bond fan-atic. Yes, that is reason I've overused Goldfinger movie quotes in past posts and devoted a whole post to watching Quantum of Solace on the big screen in Accra.  

Skyfall Poster
Source: imdb.com

Finally Bond is back in Skyfall. We have plans to see the movie again on the big screen. Of course this time, there will be Dutch subtitles running down the bottom. Hope these are not too distracting. Speaking of distraction, I was meant to be harping on about how 2012 marks the 50th anniversary since the release of the first Bond film Dr. No. In honour of 50 years of the Bond film franchise, I had planned a quiz of 50 questions celebrating my favorite Bond trivia. However, by the time I got to question 9, I had run out of steam. So I took the easy way out: 10 Bond Trivia questions only. These are ones I've known the answers to for ages but do you? Let's see how well you score. Answers are at the bottom.

1. Which Swedish actress appeared as two different Bond characters in two completely different Bond films? The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) and  Octopussy (1983)
A. Ursula Andress
B.  Ingrid Bergman
C. Maud Adams
D. Bibi Andersson

Yaphet Kotto as Dr. Kanaga
Source: Bond Wikia

2. American Actor Yaphet Kotto plays the role of villain dictator Dr. Kanaga, in the film Live and Let Die (1973), from which country was the father of Yaphet Kotto originally from?
A. Haiti
B. Nigeria
C. Barbados
D. Cameroon

3. Which diva sang three theme songs for three different Bond films? 
A. Shirley Bassey
B. Tina Turner
C. Madonna
D. Diana Ross


4.  Which New Wave group sang the theme song for 80s Bond film View to a Kill (1985) ?
A. Talking Heads
B. Tears for Fears
C. Spandau Ballet
D. Duran Duran


5. Which actor was completely dubbed over in his Bond role due to his very thick accent?
A. Scottish gem Sean Connery
B. German actor Gert Frobe in Goldfinger (1964)
C. Danish delight Mads Mikkelsen in Casino Royale (2006)
D. Israeli actor Chaim Topol in For Your Eyes Only (1981)


6. Which James Bond actor's late wife appeared as a Bond girl in For your Eyes Only (1981) years before he became 007?
A. Timothy Dalton
B. Pierce Brosnan
C. Daniel Craig
D. Mel Gibson

7. From which institution is new Bond girl Naomie Harris a graduate of?
A. School of Hardknocks
B. Harvard University
C. University of Cambridge
D. University of Ghana

Naomie Harris
Source: wikipedia

8. Which actor appeared only once in the Bond film franchise playing Bond in On her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)?
A. George Lazenby
B. David McCallum
C. Patrick McGoohan 
D. David Niven 

9. What is the name of James Bond's CIA contact and friend who was first played by Jack Lord of Hawaii 5-0 Fame in Dr. No (1962)?
A. Ben Lassiter
B. Chad James
C. Felix Leiter
D. Tad Smith

The many faces of 007's friend from the CIA
source: wikipedia

10. When Jinx (Halle Berry) emerged from the water in an orange bathing suit in Die Another Day (2002), it was a homage to which Bond girl who made a similar entrance decades before?
A. Honey Ryder in Dr. No (1962)
B. Octopussy in Octopussy (1983)
C.  Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964)
D.  Domino Derval in Thunderball (1965)

Come on, this has been too easy!! Answers below:

Answers
 1.C, 2.D, 3. A, 4. D, 5. B, 6. B,  7. C, 8. A, 9. C, 10. A

When Life Imitates Art: Little Nikita for the 2010s?

Before young female adherents to western popular culture swooned over Robert Pattinson, before their predecessors were swept away by Leonardo DiCarprio in Titanic, there was River Phoenix. Nobody seems to remember River Phoenix these days. After all,  he was the super-talented older brother of Joachim Phoenix and was phenomenal in the film Stand by Me. Sadly, River died from an accidental (?) drug-overdose in 1993 at the age of 23.

Anyway, back to my original point. In the dying days of The Cold War, River Phoenix starred in a blockbuster film called Little Nikita which also starred the quintessential  veteran actor  Sidney Poitier. The tag-line for the movie was "He went to bed an all-American kid and woke up the son of Russian spies."

Super quick plot summary: River Phoenix plays an all-American regular teenager  named Jeff Grant. Young Jeff has no clue that his all-American suburban parents are actually Russian "sleeper" spies! Definition of "Sleepers": spies who have assimilated into a society under deep-cover awaiting orders from their country of origin. 

 
Back in the day, this film seemed riveting and exciting. Of course in this post-Cold War era, I'm sure it would induce snooze in young teens everywhere. However, just like life imitating art, US authorities have revealed they have  uncovered real "Russian" sleeper cells all over the US!

According the breaking news, 10 people have been arrested  accused of "conspiracy to act as unlawful agents of a foreign government". From intercepted messages, it seems these sleeper spies were tasked to find out information on topics including "nuclear weapons, US arms control positions, Iran, White House rumours, CIA leadership turnover, and political parties."  Apparently they were not really doing a great job on their assignments either!

So it appears that just for a brief moment we have been transported back to the '80s when the Cold War was raging between the East and the West. To the days when Russia was still the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia as well as East Germany still existed and the late great actor River Phoenix was Hollywood's brightest star with great future promise. Speaking of the '80s, where's Michael Dudikoff? 

River Phoenix: Frozen in immortality

Source: Palazoo.net

Movie Making on an Accra Street: The Gawker's Paradise

 

Movie-making on a dusty street in Accra

Being a curious, nosy gawker, when I see a crowd of people gathered I instinctively stop and stare.  You would be appalled to see the effect a street brawl has on me! So when traffic was held up on a dusty road in my 'hood  2 weeks ago, I just had to pull to the side of the road  to satisfy my curiosity. There was a small crowd gathered and all I could see up ahead were some people making strange bodily motions on the side of the road near a parked car. They appeared to be expressing elements of surprise at the car's contents. As traffic was waved on, my eyes fell on a camera, an overhead microphone and an actor I have seen in that Ghanaian TV series Sun City. A movie was in motion! I was excited since I think this is the first time I have stumbled onto a set anywhere in the world. People I know always seem to be in some fast-food restaurants when one Nigeria-Ghana film collaboration or another is being made but never me. In other parts of the world they use paid extras to decorate the scene while in our neck of the woods we use real people! Do you have any experiences walking in on a movie or television series set?

New York Movie Prices in Accra?

We were all set to see the film Avatar tonight. It had great reviews and seemed like a lovely diversion from the gloomy Christmas spirit of 2009. Where else in Accra can one see fresh releases such as Avatar on a wide-screen with crystal-clear surround sound but at the Silverbird Cinema at the Accra Mall? 

Any  Silverbird regular knows that they charge GHC10.00 ($7) for a movie which many people consider quite steep. I was among those "many people" but had come to accept that the price wasn't coming down anytime soon. My first trip over to Silverbird to see Quantum of Solace was so enjoyable I blogged about it.

Anyway, I had trouble finding movie times for Avatar online so en route to Tema this morning, I stopped by the Accra Mall. I found the perfect movie time (6:05pm) but just when I was leaving, my eyes fell on a small notice at the empty ticket desk. It read something like: 

"Due to circumstances beyond our control -blah-blah-blah- management would like to announce effective 18th December 2009 the following increases in ticket prices...."

Indeed. Adult tickets are now going for GHC 15.00 ($10.71) while there are discounts for students, senior citizens and children. What?!! Suddenly, Avatar at GHC15.00 without drinks and popcorn did not seem worth it! I called up Daixy whom I was supposed to see the film with and told her about the price hike. She was at the mall later and called me back to confirm that I was not hallucinating when I read the notice, there was actually a 50% price hike.

 "Well", she said "We can always go dressed as Seniors!". I laughed but hmmm maybe it is not such a bad idea!

Out of curiosity, I went online to see how much Avatar would cost at  AMC Empire 25 in the middle of Times Square New York. You get the full movie experience plus the hustle, bustle and bright lights of the city that never (ever) sleeps!

Watching Avatar tonight at the AMC Empire 25 would set you back $12.50. If you were to take the subway into the borough of Brooklyn, you could watch it there for $9 at the Bay Ridge Alpine Cinema. Does the Silverbird price hike sounds like a case of New York movie prices in Ghana?!

In defense of Silverbird, I do understand that they are MAJOR costs associated with bringing a brand-new release such as Avatar to Ghana. The company has to seriously recoup on their costs. However, I'm still wondering... doesn't raising the price of tickets by 50% scare away a number of potential customers who would be helping with the cost recovery? Has the Silverbird management carefully considered that raising the price to this level will not affect their core market? Perhaps that is the case. Clearly, I am not part of their target market. I would rather be watching a film at New York prices in New York than watching a film at New York prices in Ghana at a Ghanaian salary! 

So how are people entertaining themselves in Accra these days? Am I the only one suffering from persistent acute boredom? Hmm... is it too late to make it to the Samini Experience Tour tonight?

Real Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?

I should admit straight away, I really did not like the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I found it loooonnng , sleep-inducing and utterly confusing. But... I did find the concept of being able to erase someone or painful memories from your mind really appealing! Like life imitating art, scientists have actually been able to make erasing specific memories possible in rats. Other science types have gone further and been able to do the same thing in humans using chemical-free behaviour therapy.

At first I thought it was a great idea but now I'm alot more skeptical. Aren't memories good for our learning and development? Don't bad experiences, bad people, bad relationships create danger signals in our head and help us avoid making the same mistakes twice? What memories would you earmark for deletion?

Bonding with James in Accra

This weekend, the widely anticipated 'Haitian Sensation' concert in Accra passed me by but I did take the opportunity to check out the new Silverbird Cinema at the Accra Mall. I was excited by the prospect of having the whole wide screen cinema experience complete with digital surround sound right here in Ghana. The last time I went to the cinema in Accra was during a family vacation back in '94 or '95. The mum, the big bruv and I went to see a B-movie out of Hollywood (or someone's basement) with some unknown D-list actors at the Rex or Roxy Cinema. Sadly, with the rise of the home box office
entertainment industry, all these cinemas died an unnatural death and were converted into churches. So the chance to see a new Hollywood blockbuster release that was not bootleg, was thrilling. So Quantum of Solace it was. My family has had a long-standing relationship with Mr. Bond. My dad was a major Bond fan-atic and apparently the big bruv cried the whole family out a movie theatre before I was born. They had gone to see Live and Let Die or the Man with the Golden Gun. I grew up in love with 007 (especially Sean Connery) and loved Roger Moore's humor-filled take on Mr. Bond. So on Sunday afternoon I made my way to the Accra Mall opting for the low-traffic 4:15pm show. Low traffic it certainly was...I coughed up the GHC 10.00 ($8.50)...*yikes* and a bag of popcorn.
The lobby was like any Odeon, AMC, Loews in the Northern hemisphere...complete with the concession stand. There were several other rooms showing other movies but our theater was impressive. Wide screen, lovely surround sound and fabulous seats. The movie started and we were transported with Bond on his adventure.
The drawbacks of the cinematic experience were the things going on in the room. There was a kid who decided to run up and down the stairs towards the end of the movie out of boredom and
the ushers were getting rather chatty just outside.
I also wished they had shown that "please-turn-off-your-mobile phone-and-stop-talking" advert before the movie since cell phone ringing was a popular distraction along with incessant chatter. A man in the row behind me let his phone ring and let us all hear his 2 minute conversation. Clearly brotherman had never heard of movie etiquette.
Ah yes, what about Quantum of Solace itself, I have come round to appreciate Daniel Craig as James Bond but this film was a little thin on the ground when it came to the plot...too many untied loose ends and more questions than answers. This Bond seems more brute than suave and the baddies were not like they used to make 'em.
The overall verdict: Okay Movie, great wide screen and digital surround sound , over-priced tickets and a serious need for clientele movie etiquette education.